Geno Smith and Tua Tagovailoa are tied for the league lead in interceptions (13), and for the most part, Smith has managed to stay out of the headlines with his public comments.
That streak ended on Monday night, though, when Smith was clearly frustrated with so much of the blame for the Raiders’ failed season falling on him.
“We got a lot of Monday morning quarterbacks who like to watch film and take screen shots [and] see when guys are open, so I’m sure you guys will see where guys are open,” Smith said after Monday’s game.
“For me, again, I just got to play better,” Smith continued. “I keep saying this. If something don’t look right out there, blame it on me. If it don’t look right, blame it on me. That’s all you can do. Blame it on me. The kids mess up as school, blame it on me. Car break down on the way to work, blame it on me.”
Smith isn’t to blame for all of the Raiders’ failures on offense, but he hasn’t been good, and he hasn’t elevated the offense since the team gave up a third-round pick and signed him to a two-year, $75 million contract in the offseason.
Whether Smith has been overly criticized or not, it seems clear in the third week of November that he’s not the Raiders’ long-term answer at quarterback.
What he has accomplished in the first 11 weeks of the season is not why the Raiders paid him the big bucks.
Considering the Raiders gave up draft picks for Kenny Pickett and Cam Miller, it might be nice to see how both of those quarterbacks respond to game situations before moving into the offseason.
Ironically, it was just last week that Smith posted about great things coming.
“Great things come from hard work and perseverance. No excuses. Stay focused. Purpose driven,” Smith posted on Instagram.
If Smith and the Raiders’ offense don’t improve quickly, there will be difficult decisions coming in the offseason. In fact, we’re probably already there.
Smith is tied to the Raiders with his contract for one more season, but his release after the season would only cost the team $18.5 million in dead money.
It’s possible the team could move on from Smith after the season, but the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Vinny Bonsignore said last week he still thinks Smith will be QB1 in Las Vegas next year.
It will be interesting to see if Bonsignore revisits and/or amends his statement this week.
x: @raidersbeat
At this point, I do not understand what we’re doing. We should be playing Pickett and perhaps Miller to see what we have. We should be playing Bech and Thornton. Thank goodness we started throwing the ball to Jeanty. And back to Bowers. But the OL is key. That was obvious in that terrible game. I feel so badly for all the players, esp. on defense. They are trotted out like sacrificial. lambs in every game. Let’s focus on next year by trying new schemes, players who need reps, and use the first two picks on the OL. Otherwise we’ll be toast for another year.
And we should be cherry picking every team‘s practice squad for another offensive line.
The GM and the head coach. Need to be gone. And if Brady has any input on anything football related, he needs to be gone.
Well said! Only problem remaining is Davis. All his decisions turn out badly.
The GM’s failure to address the offensive line all the way down the line is to blame.
Let’s not forget that Patrick Graham is culpable for the defense. And make no mistake. His redundancy should be shining a bright light on him. Both in playcalling and personnel on the field repeatedly.
Hey, Geno. A bit of advice. “Taking the blame” for each loss is not a sign of strength or being accountable. Stating bluntly and directly that “I stink, I suck. I’m benching myself’ would be taking accountability and giving the team a chance to get better and maybe win a game.
With the play of our OL there isn’t ONE Q in the NFL that could have any success on the raiders. AND it could destroy a young Q in half a season.
Its as bad as Carroll repeating, “I really didn’t see this coming, going into the game”.